4 days after Mohali brawl, neighbour held for death of 39-year-old researcher

The police arrested a Sector-66 resident on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder after his neighbour, Abhishek Swarnkar, a 39-year-old IISER researcher, died in an altercation over a parking-related issue on March 11.

The accused has been identified as Maninderpal Singh, alias Monty. According to the information, he and Abhishek had a heated argument over parking a bike in the neighbourhood that turned violent. The accused was absconding since then. A team, led by Phase-11 station house officer (SHO) Gagandeep, arrested him today.

The accused, an IT professional with a Mohali-based software firm, lives with his family in the house adjacent to the victim's.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (City-2) Harsimran Singh Bal said, "The accused will be produced before the Duty Magistrate on Sunday."

The victim's family, natives of Jharkhand, said, "He said 'teri gaadi uda dunga' (I will knock your bike over). When Abhishek said we will file a complaint, he pushed him forcefully."

The victim was reportedly undergoing treatment for a kidney-related problem at the PGI. His mother Malti Devi claimed that their next-door neighbours had been harassing them over the parking of their son's bike for the past one year.

"We rented this house in December 2023 as it was near IISER where my son was doing research. Abhishek had changed three to four spots in the neighbourhood for parking his bike but he (Monty) always had a problem. When Abhishek parked somewhere else, other neighbours started objecting. He used to tell Abhishek to park his bike over the cover of a gutter, but it was an uneven place," she added.